Qbic expands and establishes Qbic II with starting capital of € 40M
Qbic, the inter-university seed capital fund has launched a second fund. The investors from the first fund have confirmed their confidence in Qbic II.
Qbic I, established in 2012, invested in 18 high quality technology spin-offs, created by the partner universities and research institutes. The university partners and knowledge institutions to participate in Qbic II, are Ghent University, the universities of Antwerp and Brussels, and VITO. ARKimedes Fund II (PMV) and SFPI (Federal Holding and Investment Company), who already invested in Qbic I, will also support Qbic II. The financial institutions BNP Paribas Fortis, KBC and ING who delivered a major contribution to the success of Qbic I, have reinvested in Qbic II. Next to these institutional investors, a number of new private investors also want to contribute to the success of the spin-off companies, both financially and with their business experience.
The Qbic I portfolio raised the interest of many international players with major foreign investments in these companies. The quality of these university spin-offs is also confirmed by the recent very successful sale of Multiplicom (spin-off of UA / VIB and Qbic I portfolio company) to Agilent Technologies.
In order to give all the required support to the spin-off companies, two experienced managing partners will join the existing team. In the near future, Qbic II plans to extend further cooperation with new research institutes in Belgium and the Netherlands and also to raise additional funds from new investors.